3D printed steel bridge opens in Amsterdam

An innovative 3D bridge printed from steel has been opened in Amsterdam’s red light district. These will record all kinds of pedestrian and crowd behaviour to feed a ‘digital twin’ of the bridge, which will help city researchers investigate all kinds of topics from the impact of tourism in the red light district, via the numbers and speed of people crossing, to how the curious structure ages. ‘A few years ago, we came up with the idea to use the robotic 3D-metal printers that we developed to print a functional, full size steel bridge. ‘We are very grateful that we had the opportunity to work with some of the top people and businesses in the field of robotics, engineering, welding technique and software development.’ Although printing and assembly of large sections of the bridge began in March 2017, the final placement of the steel structure had to be postponed for almost due years as the canal walls needed to be restored. The experiment will, according to Stijn Joosten, structural engineer at Arup, help open ‘a world of possibilities for architects, engineers, and designers, who can explore greater form freedom and create new shapes and structures which could not be created without the use of 3D printing.’